Day Trip: STP
That's sticky toffee pudding to you....
We emerged from the crypt tour of Edinburgh excited, spooked, and hungry. Maybe it was the creepy way that the tour guide in her impressive black cape and not-too-thick brogue told some of Scotland’s famous ghost stories, like the bag piper lost under the Royal Mile or the religious rebel buried under a parking spot. Maybe it was the journey into the crypt, where we encountered not ghosts and bones but the sounds of a wedding reception in the next chamber. Maybe it was the way the stomach expands on trips, but we needed an after-dinner snack.
Strolling back to our hotel near the university, I noticed that things were getting a little desperate. Night was falling and restaurants were closing. Pubs were open, but the kitchens were closed. And we were hangry.
“We still have dessert for you,” said the bartender at the pub next to the 7-11 a block from our hotel, which we decided to visit as a last resort. “It’s sticky toffee pudding.”
They could have served us boiled tartan in whipped cream but instead what showed up was a rich spice cake swimming in thick toffee sauce and real custard. Like all proper Scottish fare, it warmed us up and filled us up. We slept like gargoyles who had hit the whisky hard and had an easier time understanding our Scots hosts the for the rest of the trip.
“We have sticky toffee pudding all the time!” said the bartender on our third night at the same pub. That night, she served us an extra large portion.
Upon returning home, we discovered that New York does many things right but sticky toffee pudding is not one of them. Throughout the UK and parts of Europe, you can get a pre-made STP (as the cool kids call it) at any local grocery freezer, but I had to find a recipe that matched the mystical dessert that saved us from near-starvation one cool September night. I’d love to tell you it’s the bartender’s family recipe, scribbled on a napkin and carefully smuggled in my carry-on back across the pond, but my STP recipe can be found here.